This Time
by kayframe
Summary: N2N AU one shot. Hope you like it :)


**N2N AU where Henry is Natalie's brother visiting from college and Gabe meets Natalie for the first time at school. Just a warning, Henry is a bit of a jerk in this story. Also, thanks to my buddy Isabel for helping me with this story! Hope you enjoy!**

::

"Shit!" Natalie examined jumping out of bed, her alarm clock blaring. It was already 7:00 and she couldn't be late for school...again.

Rushing to her closet and throwing on some clothes, Natalie heard a laugh coming from the direction of her doorway. "What are you laughing at?" She shot at her brother, Henry.

"Oh nothing, nothing. By the way, the bus just passed our house up." He told her chuckling again.

"SHIT!" She cried again, louder this time. After throwing her hair into a messy ponytail, Natalie grabbed her backpack and pushed past Henry to run down the stairs.

"Have a good day!" Henry shouted after her sarcastically, still laughing at his sisters already unfortunate day.

::

After having to walk the mile and a half to school, Natalie was already late for first period. 'What the hell,' she thought, taking a seat on the ground by her locker.

Hearing footsteps coming her way, Natalie's head shot up.

"Hey...what are you...doing out here?" someone asked her. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

Natalie recognized the person as Gabe. 'I think he sits behind me in physics?' She thought.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" She shot back, not wanting to deal with anyone right now. But, of course, he sat down right next to her.

She sighed, "If you must know, I woke up late today and missed the bus. Then my stupid brother wouldn't stop pestering me, I had to walk all the way here," she explained, then added, "and to top it all off, I'm with you."

"Ouch!" Gabe cried sarcastically, clutching his chest, "That hurt. What did I ever do to you?"

"I would just really love some well deserved peace and quiet, since I never get that at home." She told him coldly, getting up to go...well, anywhere to be alone.

"All right," Gabe said, getting up to follow her. "I can be quiet. My lips are sealed." He told her, "zipping" his lips shut.

The bell signaling the end of first period was like an angelic choir to Natalie. 'Saved by the bell' she thought, tuning around seeing that she had lost Gabe.

Returning to her locker, she grabbed her books and turned in the direction of her class room.

::

The end of the day came faster than Natalie had hoped. While everyone else was glad to get home, Natalie decided to stay and hopefully get that peace and quiet she'd been longing for all day. She walked in the direction of the music room hoping to play a few songs she needed to perfect without anyone to interrupt her now.

What she didn't expect to see was Gabe, the same Gabe who wouldn't leave her alone that morning, plucking out some notes on the piano.

Natalie was about to walk out when he turned around.

"Sorry," she stuttered, "I was just-"

"You play?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah. Do you?" She asked him.

"Play for me?" He asked disregarding her question.

"I don't know. I haven't really been able to work on anything lately with my brother home from college." She said slightly stepping out of the class room.

"Oh, come on. You can't be as horrible as me. I won't judge I promise." He told her. "I mean, unless you suck. Then I'd have to tell you. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't?" He asked her sarcastically.

Natalie didn't even laugh at his attempted joke. She was trying to focus on the sheet music she had just pulled out of her bag to play. Sitting down next to Gabe, she placed her fingers on the keys and started to play.

Gabe knew she wasn't going to be as terrible as she made herself out to be, but man, could that girl play!

Natalie could feel Gabes eyes staring at her as she was finishing up her piece. "Yeah, it needs a little work." She told him sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Are you kidding? That was amazing!" He told her, eyes wide.

"Thanks..." She said, "I better get going though, my mom will get worried." Natalie told him grabbing her sheet music.

"Wait, I'll walk you home." Gabe said, trying his best to be chivalrous.

"You really don't have to do that." Natalie said, walking towards the door but was stopped when Gabe grabbed her hand.

"I know, aren't I just the nicest person?" Gabe said with a devilish grin.

Natalie ripped her hand from his strong grasp and, seeing that there was no way to change his mind, let out and exasperated sigh. "Fine."

::

"I'm Gabe, by the way." Gabe told Natalie as they walked back to her house.

"I know. You've been in at least one of my classes every year since middle school." She told him grinning.

"Is...is that a smile I see?" Gabe asked her smiling, "Attention everyone! I just made Natalie Goodman smile! Mark it on your calendars! This is a historical day people!" By now, Natalie was full out laughing. People were giving the two teenagers strange looks as the passed them.

Once they composed themselves, Natalie took a in a breath of fresh air. "Thanks." She told Gabe, still smiling.

"For what?"

"I haven't laughed like that in a while." She told him, or really told the ground since she couldn't bring herself to look at him.

Gabe smiled at her and grabbed her hand again, causing Natalie to blush. This time, she didn't let go.

::

"Miss the bus home too, sis?" Henry asked from his seat on the porch as he saw Natalie walking up the driveway.

Natalie, afraid of what kind of jokes her brother would make, let go of Gabe's hand. "Very funny, I stayed after so that I could actually play without you bugging the hell out of me!" Natalie exclaimed. "Are mom and dad home yet?"

"No. Why, you wanna have some alone time with you boyfriend?" Henry teased

"Oh I'm sorry, when was the last time you had a girl in your room?" Natalie retorted practically dragging Gabe into the house, leaving Henry dumbfounded and speechless.

::

By the time Natalie and Gabe had made it into the living room, Gabe could not stop laughing. "Damn, you're just on a roll today with the insults!" He joked.

"Yeah, we'll my day was just so fantastic I wanted to share it with the world." Natalie told him sarcastically as they made their way to her room.

"So," Natalie started but had no idea what to say. She had never had a boy- or really anyone outside her family-in her room before.

"So..." Gabe said stepping a little too close to Natalie.

Natalie, still at a loss for words, tried to think of something to talk about before things got really awkward. She started to say something, but was cut off when she felt a pair of lips on hers.

Gabes arms circled around Natalie's waist but she put her hands on his chest and pushed him away, lightly but forceful enough to get him of of her.

"I think you should leave." She told him simply, taking a step away from him.

"What did I do?" Gabe asked confused.

"You just- are you serious? We just met and you're all over me!" Natalie said trying to get her point across.

"So? Haven't you even heard of love at first sight?" Gabe said with a wink, stepping closer to Natalie again.

"I think you should leave." Natalie repeated hoping that this time he would listen.

"Fine." Gabe said grabbing his backpack and walking out the door.

In his attempt to escape, Gabe bumped into Henry.

"Leaving so soon lover boy?" Henry asked laughing, but Gabe was too angry to even acknowledge him.

::

The next day at school, Gabe tried all day to avoid Natalie. I mean it was what she wanted right? He kept his distance for most of the day, but when he felt a small hand tap his shoulder, he knew immediately who it was.

"Hey." Gabe said turning around but keeping his eyes on the floor.

"Hey." Natalie said back. "I wanted to apologize for what happened yesterday. I was just having a really bad day and I'm sorry."

"Ok." Gabe said simply and tried to walk away.

"Wait. So what, you're not going to even acknowledge that I just apologized to you?" Natalie said with her arms crossed over her chest.

"I said ok didn't I?" He asked sarcastically trying once again to walk away.

Natalie must've left and just let it go cause when Gabe turned around, she was gone.

::

Natalie, after seeing that Gabe no longer wanted to talk to her, headed for the music room.

She was glad that she had music. It would always be there to help her escape from her crazy life. When she played, everything else around her seemed to just disappear.

Her fingers moved gracefully along the keys as her eyes scanned her sheet music. She almost didn't notice the tears falling from her eyes. Almost.

Why was she so worked up over some stupid guy? What had gotten into her. Maybe he was right when he said love at firs-no. That was just ridiculous.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you." Gabe told her, feeling like the biggest jerk in the world. "I guess this would've been the obvious place to look first- are...are you crying?" Gabe asked Natalie, rushing to sit down next to her on the piano bench.

"No." She answered simply, turning away from him.

Gabe grabbed her chin and gently turned her head so that she was facing him again. He moved his hand to her cheek to wipe the tears from her pale face.

He leaned in slowly and when he saw her start to lean in too, he pressed his lips to hers.

This time, Natalie didn't pull away.


End file.
